Man to serve 15 years in pill case

May. 28, 2013 @ 12:00 AM

CURTIS JOHNSON

HUNTINGTON -- A Detroit man will spend more than a decade in prison for his involvement in a oxycodone operation.

Robert Louis Smith recently received a 15-year, eight-month prison sentence form U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers. He had pleaded guilty to distributing oxycodone, the single count of a federal indictment filed in May 2012.

Smith, 40, of Detroit, had signed an agreement with federal prosecutors stating he sold 486 oxycodone pills to a confidential informant at a restaurant parking lot along Hal Greer Boulevard. The informant received an undisclosed amount of cash.

Smith's punishment was linked to allegations that he had distributed 11,820 pills from June 2009 to March 2010, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Federal prosecutors did not include the more substantial drug amount in Smith's initial indictment.

Man indicted in significant heroin case

Rodney Lee Flowers awaits trial in July on an indictment that charges him with possessing at least 100 grams of heroin with an intent to distribute. The incident happened April 3 in Huntington. No further information was provided in the indictment.

Flowers was arrested May 7 in Detroit and pleaded not guilty May 20 at arraignment in Huntington.

Third man admits guilt in pill case

Aliff signed an agreement with prosecutors stating he obtained and sold pills as part of a conspiracy organized and sponsored by Vernon Lee Browning, a co-defendant and owner of a related business, "The Little Garage on the Corner" in West Huntington.

Aliff made the trips from at least early 2009 until March 2013. He would be among participants on trips to Georgia, where Browning paid for travel expenses, doctor's appointments and prescriptions used to obtain pills later sold in Huntington.

Their eventual arrest followed an early March 2013 trip to Georgia. They purchased pills there and had 240 oxycodone pills shipped back to Browning's residence, however that package was intercepted by authorities, according to the plea agreement.

The conspiracy charge was Aliff's only involvement in the three-count indictment, which also named Browning and co-defendant Jeffrey Allen King.

Federal prosecutors dismissed charges of conspiracy and distribution against Browning in exchange for his admission to having sold pills March 13, 2012. That deal took place at his business, "The Little Garage on the Corner," located in the 300 block of 13th Street West.

Man pleads guilty to porn charge

Charles D. Cunningham pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. Sentencing is set for Aug. 12.

Cunningham, of Milton, signed an agreement with prosecutors stating he possessed more than 600 images and videos. The items were found March 22, 2009, at his residence in Milton.

Investigators believe the images and videos were downloaded using the Internet and depicted children engaged in sexual contact, the agreement states.

Federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss a count of distributing child pornography, in exchange for Cunningham's guilty plea on the possession charge.